With all respect, GEICO stepped in it in this one! GEICO sued lawyers from a Washington class action in which they represented plaintiffs. GEICO did not stop there. GEICO also sued their Expert Witness in the Washington case, and the witness's company.
The dispute arose over the use of documents in litigation. GEICO apparently thought that the documents were or should be protected secrets. But GEICO did not raise its grievances in the Washington case.
GEICO instead filed suit in Federal Court far away from the State of Washington, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was apparently as far away as GEICO could go. GEICO alleged claims for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets and unjust enrichment. The Federal Judge, named Stengel, was not having any of it, to put it mildly.
The Judge in Philadelphia wrote:
GEICO weaves some clever arguments in an attempt to justify its acts of obstruction. However, practicality, legal analysis, and common sense all make clear GEICO is attempting to stalemate the Washington class actions by suing the plaintiffs’ lawyers thousands of miles away from where those class actions are currently being litigated. The red herrings in this case are GEICO’s alleged “claims” for trade secret misappropriation and unjust enrichment. Even if these “claims” were anything more than red herrings—which they are not—they fail as a matter of law.
GEICO's lawsuit is dismissed. The Court will not allow this. GEICO v. Nealey, No. 17-807, 2017 WL 2572519, at *1 (E.D. Pa. June 13, 2017) ("I will not tolerate the attempted manipulation of our judicial process in this case. The case is dismissed.").
Apparently thinking themselves to be a reincarnation of the New York Yankees from back in the day, invincible and "tough," they could not even convince a namesake of the Old Perfesser (Stengel) that they were doing anything good here.
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